Sunday, June 3, 2012

biota dining - bowral

its raining today, i overslept & missed church service.... so thought it would be a good chance to edit some photos taken earlier in the year & post them up. we went to biota dining in bowral on the 29th jan with some good friends & enjoyed their weekend picnic package that they just launched & were going to have once a month on sunday.... the weather was overcast that day, so we enjoyed the picnic inodoors.

unfortunately, i don't remember the name of the dishes, but its suffice to say that the food was great... the spit roasted suckling pig (poor little piglet) which came from a local farm.... & the dried mandarins (these were delicious) particularly stick out in my mind. you can feast on the rest of the dishes from the photos, they look as good as it tasted. and the ambience of the place was great, a wonderful place to spend for a long, relaxed weekend lunch. you can walk around the private grounds & see the vegetable gardens, the pond & meet the angry geese!






















citywoman lifestyle event 30th april 2012

the first event for CityWoman occurred on 30.04.12. our speaker victoria brigden who is a barrister & expectant mother, spoke on the topic of lifestyle... whether living an interesting life experiencing the things we have on our bucket list makes it a worthwhile life. is ticking off the items we want to achieve & do the best way to live & bring fulfilment to our lives? how do the words of Jesus help us in working out what we should have on our bucket list? 

the event was held at cara & co which is a concept store & restaurant in pitt st westfield, sydney. we served savoury & dessert canapes with non-alcholic refreshments



i work with many other amazing women to help make these wonderful events happen, so that working women in the city of sydney can spend an evening together to enjoy canapes in a stylish venue & most importantly hear from other women who also work in the city and who want to share their experiences of life & faith.

the CityWoman events are delivered by a group of women who volunteer their time & efforts because of their love for the women working in the city who we think will gain to hear about the topics of the events, we represent CBF (city bible forum who hold lunch time talks ).




Saturday, April 28, 2012

baby showers for faulty towers (manuel)

baby showers are the best excuse for girlie catchups... with little manuel (elaine & jem's nickname for their son) due soon, we had the perfect excuse. 




Sunday, April 15, 2012

jamie's italian sydney...

on easter monday the mister & i went with our dear friends & their little one to lunch at jamie's italian in sydney. the website describes the restaurant as having gorgeous rustic italian food & fantastic knowledgeable service... we were looking forward to our dining experience.

first reality check... when we phoned the restaurant to check with them whether the recommended ezipark parking station was open. before i could utter a word was put on hold by their fantastic knowledgeable service staff, this experience occurred 2 more times before i was actually given a chance to talk when the phone was answered by their staff.

second reality check... a one hour wait for a table. okay so i know this is a bit of a trend for popular restaurants to not take bookings but how is this good service & hospitable to customers? what are people to do for an hour? thankfully it was a lovely sunny day and as we are rarely in the city, it was nice to go to pitt street mall to look around, however if it was bad weather i doubt waiting for an hour in the rain would be enjoyable.

first positive experience... the hostess gave us a table that allowed us to fit our pram & baby, however it was right next to the extremely noisy kitchen & kitchen staff kept yelling out "SERVICE" when the dishes were ready to be delivered to diners.

third reality check... napkins were smelly, service of the wait staff was average.

other positives... decor is trendy, apparently ezipark next door at 109 pitt street is free for 2 hours if you are a diner at jamie's italian.

:: food roundup ::
drinks: standard offer, the only fresh juice they have is apple or orange.

entree: we had the crispy squid & the marinated sardines. the presentation was attractive however are portions very small.

mains: we had the prawn linguine & the crab & squid ink risotto. they describe that their pasta is freshly made on in the restaurant every day with love... however, the linguine didn't have quite the same texture as other freshly made pastas that i have eaten before & was a bit too al dente, the risotto was just average... it was missing the fresh & depth of flavour crab & squid ink risottos have.

desserts: we had their special tiramisu, & italian bakewell tart. the best was the tart, however the tiramisu was badly presented, soggy in the centre with too much alcohol - it tasted like a soggy sponge jaffa.

summary verdict is that i wouldn't be returning to jamie's italian...... pinos in crows nest is much better for italian.


Address: 107 Pitt Street, Sydney
Phone: +61 2 8240 9000
website: http://www.jamieoliver.com/au/italian/sydney

Saturday, April 14, 2012

an angel & her prince...


one sunny autumn day i met an angel & her prince, i got to spend an amazing couple of hours together with them in their beautiful forest which was filled with happy laughter, smiles, tummy rubs & smackos...






Saturday, April 7, 2012

rozelle markets


after our lunch at the grounds in alexandria, we dropped into rozelle to check out the markets. my sis bought the beautifully restored piano stool shown in the last photo.




the grounds, alexandria...

i know i love something when, i drive 40 mins to get to a cafe, then i'm happy to wait an hour to get a table, and afterwards, i'm determined to get there earlier next time to beat the crowds.... the grounds roasters in alexandria is my new favourite coffee place...

my foodie & fotographie friend told me about this place from a blog he had read, what kate ate who is a beautiful blog about food & full of food porn (my kinda blog!). i immediately fell in love with her photos of the cafe & had to plan a trip to visit (as well as subscribe to her blog!).  i've done both & not disappointed with either.

the coffee is the best here, its their own blend....  so you've gotta try is... so is their BLT on sourdough. not only is the food good, but the interiors & external gardens are a lovely place to hang out & relax too. i especially love the edison bulbs lining the walkway to the toilets... they're imported all the way from america. its attention to detail such as this that makes the great & better than any other cafe i've been to. but like i said, you've gotta get there early or expect a wait.






















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